The theology of the ascension

The Ascension of Jesus Christ, and its consequences and implications, has an ambiguous position in Christian theology. This is due primarily to the paradoxical and obscure manner of its expression in the New Testament. It is also the result of the nature of the Ascension in itself and in relation to the other central christological doctrines: Incarnation, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Pentecost. In the Patristic period the difficulties and possibilities inherent in giving a consistent theological analysis of the Ascension became manifest. The work of Saint Hilary of Poitiers was particularly incisive, as also was that of Saint Augustine of Hippo. During the Medieval, Reformation, and Counter-Reformation centuries the Ascension was not forgotten, but it did not directly emerge as a controversial issue, and so was not examined in the detail and urgency accorded to other Christian doctrines. In the course of the last century or so, developments in systematic theology and scripture studies have again, if indirectly, placed the Ascension in a prominent position in the examination of doctrine. The collective weight of the Scriptural, Patristic, and modern contributions to the revelation and understanding of the Ascension point towards its purpose as the decisive key to its meaning. It is by placing it in its soteriological context, specifically from the point of view of ontology, that the fuller picture of the Ascension can be appreciated. The effects in the Trinity of the Ascension of Christ, with which Hilary and some of the modern systematicians have been concerned, indicate a substantive and essential role which it has not always been accorded. There can also be greater insight into the whole soteriological process where the difficulties raised by the Ascension are regarded as indicators of its nature, rather than as anomalies to be explained away

The Effect of Growth Rate, Phosphorus Concentration, and Temperature on N-2 Fixation, Carbon Fixation, and Nitrogen Release in Continuous Cultures of Trichodesmium IMS101

With the use of continuous culture systems, rates of dinitrogen (N2) and carbon (C) fixation and nitrogen (N)- and C-based doubling times were assessed in Trichodesmium IMS101 growing exponentially at steady state dilution rates of 0.10, 0.20, and 0.33 d-1 (doubling times of 10, 5, and 3 d - within the range reported for natural populations). Rates of C fixation, N2 fixation, and N release were examined in replicate culture systems with several techniques. Biomass-specific C uptake varied little with population doubling time, but N2 fixation and N release varied markedly among treatments. Total daily gross N2 fixation rates and estimated N release rates were higher in cultures with higher dilution rates. Cultures grown at lower dilution rates had higher daily C:N2 fixation ratios and lower N release rates. Consistent with other studies, it was estimated that Trichodesmium released about 80-90% of their recently fixed N2 during growth. Turnover of cellular C estimated from carbon fixation was a good estimator of population growth rates in steady state cultures, whereas turnover of cellular N estimated from gross or net N2 fixation was not. Small changes in temperature (24°C vs. 28°C) did not appear to affect gross N2 fixation, whereas inorganic phosphorus (1 vs. 5 μmol L-1) supply had a large effect on N2 fixation. These results suggest that continuous culture systems are excellent for elucidating physiological responses of Trichodesmium under ecologically relevant growth conditions and provide a framework for assessing highly variable field estimates of N2 and C fixation

How the actions and experiences of teachers engaging in student voice can enrich our thinking about what it is and the factors that influence it

D. Ed. Psy. ThesisStudent voice practice is varied and the literature associated with it has largely been written by professionals outside the school contexts in which it occurs. This research explores how the ideas, actions and experiences of secondary school teachers in one school can enrich understandings of what student voice is and what influences it. Four teachers were engaged through semi-structured interviews over a twelve month period as they developed student voice practice within their own contexts. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach is used to uncover the participants’ experiences and consider how they understood student voice, the potential it had, and the factors that influenced it. Findings suggest that student voice is understood as part of something bigger, that it needs to benefit those engaging in it, involves collaboration and compromise, develops and evolves within context, and can take different forms. Models are constructed from the accounts to illustrate how participants understood and experienced student voice, and the psychology of self-defence theory is offered as a way of making further sense of the findings. General observations of impact are revealed, and three areas of practical challenge are identified in respect to enabling engagement, developing something bespoke, and making sense of what emerges. The findings are argued as significant as they add a teaching professional perspective to the wider literature, and offer conceptualizations that open up awareness of the challenges teachers face in engaging in student voice work. The importance of further research into how different styles of management can enable students and teachers to work more collaboratively together, alongside how teachers can be supported to make sense of what emerges from student voice engagements, are emphasize

Drumcree: a Struggle for Recognition

This paper attempts to explain what motivates the Catholic community in Portadown in their opposition to routing Orange Parades through their neighbourhoods. It argues that the parades issue cannot be fully explained in terms of a conflict over two equal but opposing sets of rights, or as a localised manifestation of a power struggle between the two ethno-national communities in Northern Ireland. Rather it is best understood as a struggle against the sectarianism that governs relations between the two communities, and which Catholics experience as a violation of their dignity and rights. This violation effectively maintains their subordinate status by undermining their self-confidence, self-esteem and self-respect. This, in turn, diminishes their ability and willingness to participate in and to benefit from the socioeconomic and cultural life of one of the most prosperous provincial towns in the north of Ireland

Iron and Steel Statistical Bulletin quarterly 6-1975

High-order harmonic generation (HHG) from aligned acetylene molecules interacting with mid infra-red (IR), linearly polarized laser pulses is studied theoretically using a mixed quantum-classical approach in which the electrons are described using time-dependent density functional theory while the ions are treated classically. We find that for molecules aligned perpendicular to the laser polarization axis, HHG arises from the highest-occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) while for molecules aligned along the laser polarization axis, HHG is dominated by the HOMO-1. In the parallel orientation we observe a double plateau with an inner plateau that is produced by ionization from and recombination back to an autoionizing state. Two pieces of evidence support this idea. Firstly, by choosing a suitably tuned vacuum ultraviolet pump pulse that directly excites the autoionizing state we observe a dramatic enhancement of all harmonics in the inner plateau. Secondly, in certain circumstances, the position of the inner plateau cut-off does not agree with the classical three-step model. We show that this discrepancy can be understood in terms of a minimum in the dipole recombination matrix element from the continuum to the autoionizing state. As far as we are aware, this represents the first observation of harmonic enhancement over a wide range of frequencies arising from autoionizing states in molecules.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures; discussion extended on referees' recommendations, extra figures added, and explanation of cutoff position revise

Preventive measures in infancy to reduce under-five mortality: a case-control study in The Gambia.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between child mortality and common preventive interventions: vaccination, trained birthing attendants, tetanus toxoid during pregnancy, breastfeeding and vitamin A supplementation. METHODS: Case-control study in a population under demographic surveillance. Cases (n = 141) were children under five who died. Each was age and sex-matched to five controls (n = 705). Information was gathered by interviewing primary caregivers. RESULTS: All but one of the interventions - whether the mother had received tetanus toxoid during pregnancy - were protective against child mortality after multivariate analysis. Having a trained person assisting at child birth (OR 0.2 95% CI 0.1-0.4), receiving all vaccinations by 9 months of age (OR 0.1; 95% CI 0.01-0.3), being breastfed for more than 12 months (Children breastfed between 13 and 24 months OR 0.1 95% CI 0.03-0.3, more than 25 months OR 0.1 95% CI 0.01-0.5) and receiving vitamin A supplementation at or after 6 months of age (OR 0.05; 95% CI 0.01-0.2) were protective against child death. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the value of at least four available interventions in the prevention of under-five death in The Gambia. It is now important to identify those who are not receiving them and why, and to intervene to improve coverage across the population

Toward Resolving Disparate Accounts of the Extent and Magnitude of Nitrogen Fixation in the Eastern Tropical South Pacific Oxygen Deficient Zone

Examination of dinitrogen (N2) fixation in the Eastern Tropical South Pacific oxygen deficient zone has raised questions about the range of diazotrophs in the deep sea and their quantitative importance as a source of new nitrogen globally. However, technical considerations in the deployment of stable isotopes in quantifying N2 fixation rates have complicated interpretation of this research. Here, we report the findings of a comprehensive survey of N2 fixation within, above and below the Eastern Tropical South Pacific oxygen deficient zone. N2 fixation rates were measured using a robust 15N tracer method (bubble removal) that accounts for the slow dissolution of N2 gas and calculated using a conservative approach. N2 fixation was only detected in a subset of samples (8 of 125 replicated measurements) collected within suboxic waters (\u3c 20 μmol O2 kg−1) or at the oxycline. Most of these detectable rates were measured at nearshore stations, or where surface productivity was high. These findings support the hypothesis that low oxygen/high organic carbon conditions favor non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs. Nevertheless, this study indicates that N2 fixation is neither widespread nor quantitatively important throughout this region